Maintenance Management Blog: CMMS Software Features, Tips, Resources

It is the start of a new year and time to get an idea of maintenance due for the coming months. You especially want to see if too much work is being clubbed in some weeks while nothing much is scheduled during other weeks. Low periods could also be time some of your maintenance technicians could take time off or go for additional training. When you have several hundred equipment it can be hard to get an idea of preventive maintenance that is due for all the different equipment. This is where reports from your CMMS/ maintenance software can be quite helpful. You may find a report called Equipment Maintenance Calendar or Maintenance Calendar. Use it to get an idea of preventative maintenance due in the coming months week by week.

Watch out for:

Remember that unplanned maintenance probably will still come up during some weeks due to equipment breakdowns or other issues. So make sure that you have maintenance technicians available with required skills even during weeks that not much maintenance is being planned. Having a look at prior year breakdown work orders can give you an idea of the possible work load – but remember that it probably is not accurate since unplanned maintenance due to equipment breakdown is quite unpredictable!

Some adjustments may be needed in the maintenance calendar if old equipment is going to be replaced during the course of the year or new equipment is expected to be installed.

Check carefully and make sure that planned workloads are not unreasonable and you have the staff to do them. You will need to change your maintenance task scheduling if you are going to be overloaded in some weeks.

Discuss with operations staff if it is acceptable to remove some equipment from service at certain periods – you may find it is a busy period and the worst time to do any planned maintenance! You can tweak settings on maintenance task schedules to ensure that planned maintenance dates are adjusted to accommodate such needs.

It is also be a good time to get an idea of expected maintenance spare parts demands over the coming months. This will help you order items early from suppliers as well as give you an idea of quantities needed so that you will be eligible for applicable discounts. CMMS software reports on work orders for future periods may have an option to calculate parts usage and availability. This can come in useful to get an idea of spares you need and when you will need them. You can see "6 Ways CMMS/ Maintenance Software Can Improve Vendor Management" and "3 Ways To Improve Maintenance Spare Parts Management" for some additional spare parts management tips.

Additional information:

Looking for CMMS software?

If you do not have a maintenance software package or are dissatisfied with your current maintenance program you can download a fully functional 30-day trial of FastMaint CMMS Maintenance Management software and see how it works for you. Use the import feature to load in your equipment and maintenance tasks. You can then try the Maintenance Calendar Report to get an idea of the preventive maintenance due in the coming months.